If you happen to have an empty plastic bottle, you can try balancing it on the ball. That too should hold a toddler’s attention. The child might even try to perform the same trick. He or she is eager to play with the ball, although a toddler seldom has the ability to play a game of catch.
What can you do with a toddler and an old deck of cards? Be ready to play the game “Fifty Two Card Pickup.” Toddlers like to throw the cards on the floor. Encourage them to help with the collection of the scattered cards.
What can you do with a toddler and a stubby pencil? If you have a sheet of paper, any type of paper, you can busy the child with scribbling. Be forewarned, though. A toddler might soon quit writing on the paper and begin writing on the wall.
Here is a note about the paper that one gives a toddler. It is pointless to waste good paper on a toddler. Do you have an old envelope? Tear it up, so as to make the inside of the envelope available as a writing surface. If the envelope is colored, the child will enjoy discovering that a paper can be colored on one side and white on the other side.
What can you do with a toddler and an old computer mouse? Do you have a stuffed kitten, or a bedroom slipper that has been decorated with whiskers? Put the mouse and the kitten (or slipper) on the floor. Now sing the song about the cat chasing the mouse. Be sure to include the line “Hi-O The dairy-O.”
As you sing the line “The mouse ran away,” then pull the mouse away from the “cat.” The toddler should catch on quickly to this game. The adult should continue to sing the song, and to keep placing the “cat” at a spot where it can go after the mouse.
Suppose that you have a toddler and a small baby to care for. What games are going to keep them both happy? Encourage games that will busy the toddler and not injure the baby.
If you have a small flashlight, you can have the toddler shine it on the wall. That should fascinate the baby. Is it a hot day? Let the toddler play in a backyard pool, and have the baby watch. Do you have some blocks? Let the baby held one block, while the toddler plays with the blocks.
Once a baby reaches the age of three months, he or she can shake a rattle. A toddler is always ready to make noise. Give the toddler one or more noise makers. Give yourself a noise maker. Then the three of you, the toddler and the baby, with you as “leader,” can form a small “band.”
Music aids the creation of any activity. Toddlers like to try making music. Toddlers also like to move to the music. If an adult dances as well, that will show the toddler the sort of dance moves that he or she might want to mimic.
Such activity can precede a “quiet time.” Any planned quiet time should focus on calming an excited child. The adult should bring out a book and read to the toddler. If a baby is present, he or she is apt to listen, as long as the toddler also listens.